Clarity of Soul

I have started a new ritual every morning. I have started to meditate. Yes, Christians can also meditate. Every morning when I wake up and while it is still dark I do some meditation. The reason for my meditation is to stand still before the day starts and to try and get some calm into my soul for the day ahead. Is it working? I think so. I am slightly more calm at work and things bother me less. There are all these theories of meditation to see and feel God and to be closer to God. I am already close to God, so my meditation is really just to calm me down as a person and to get the day going on a nice relaxed way. My "mantra" or phrase I repeatedly say in my head to clear my thoughts is Maranatha. This is an Aramaic word that means "Come, o Lord". I find this very appropriate, as I meditate for the Lord to come and calm me down, and give me peace. Its something that I am really enjoying and look forward to every morning.

Enough Said

Light Friday Entertainment

Some friends and us organized to go to a UMF (Ultimate Muaythai Fighting) contest held at Grand West over the weekend. Let it be said, we thought we were going to watch some MMA Cage Fighting, so when we got there and saw what it was, we were all a little surprised. I for one had one of the best evenings out in ages. I found the whole cultural history around Muaythai so fascinating. The ritual around honoring all sides of the ring, and their teachers and their parents. The whole traditional aspect, the history and the respect towards everything, which is so central in most Eastern cultures, is what attracts me to this sport. That and the fact that it is a semi religion in Thailand. I had a great time watching the fights and the ceremonies. We also got a bonus with two MMA (mixed Marshall Arts) fights that were awesome, but somehow paled in comparison to the culturally rich Muaythai fights.

Music is water for the soul

I am sitting at work bobbing my head and tapping my toes to tunes that are busy infiltrating my spine and making my whole body want to get up and move it across the floor. No I am not listening to Die Antwoord, they just make my skin crawl. I am listening to a dance CD produced by a local DJ. House Afrika's Deep House Sounds 5. it is a Joburg based production house that is bringing back sooo many good memories of my play-dates in Johannesburg when I was still a young-en. This is real Jozi type music that you don't hear down here in Cape town. This is the one and only thing about Jozi that I miss, the black influence in the dance music up in Jozi is unmatched down here...

Gay vs. God

I am back at that age old (redundant) discussion. This morning I got a phone call from my mother telling me to tune in to their favorite radio station. RSG (for those out side the country, its a very Afrikaans, religiously inspired, station for the true Afrikaner). They were having a discussion about being gay and your place in the Afrikaans church. The discussion was the normal discussion about how ridiculous the church is with their exclusion or their "ok but not too gay" rules. I am not going into that because we all know where I stand. What was interesting is that there were so many people who were there and spoke out against the church and how they were comparing it to the race debate in our (Dutch Reformed) church. They had also contacted many church leaders and key figures to joint the discussion on the opposite side of the coin, who believe differently, but they all declined..... How we for years believed that allowing black people into our church, was not right in the eyes of God, and how we found bible versus to prove our point. Just like the church now is finding these verses to prove the gay issue. It was also nice that my mother phoned me to tell me about it.

Its time for young people to take their churches back. Stand up for what is right, not just right now.

About bloggin time

I created this blog because I had a lot to say, always, and wanted to say it without having to hear people answering or saying something in return. Only my voice to be heard. The problem is that in the past year or so I have not had much to say. Well I have had lots to say but I have not had the time to say it, and that has been killing me. It time for em to start voicing my opinion again, and its not gonna be good in the beginning. I have had to bottle up LOADS in the past year and a half. But I am back and with even more than usual.

The visit to our church

We were surprised this morning to see our church had reserved seating, only to disover that Prince Charles and his mare was joining our service. They are old.

Its the big day

And I got the most stunning stuff from T from Rain...in this very big bag. He knows me so well to make such a big fuss of my B day...

Rugby World Cup 2011

So its that time again where all of the rugby playing countries in the world get together to determine which one is the best at the game. Our South African team has won the title twice now and we are the defending champions. The problem is at the moment we are not the best team in the world. We haven't won a game in such a long time. Now there are some South Africans who keep on harping on the fact that we have to support our national team no matter what. Bullshit! If they are not winning any matches, then there si something wrong, and people are getting upset and saying that it is not always about winning..... REALLY??? In sport, it is ONLY about winning games, tournaments, matches....

As far as I am concerned, the Springboks will not be doing well at the World Cup this year coz we do not have the best team. The reasons for this is of course a whole other post worthy.

A new member at the zoo

On Thursday after the great storm, we found this little guy, tired and hungry on our porth window. I went outside and caught him and brought him into our house. At first we were going to try and find the owner, but that was going to be too much of a mission. So now we got a budgie called R2D2 because he talks along with R2D2 on the TV. The cats are constantly stalking him and every now and then he screams and flutters all around the cage. He is such a drama queen.

The Glee phenomina

We have been watching Glee during the time we had no satelite TV and I have to say I really don't get the whole Glee thing. The characters are so clichèd and one dimensional. I mean a gay boy who loves show tunes, dresses funny, talks like a girl and NEVER has any interaction with another boy. Come on. Then there is the 'hot' jock who has the conflicting live of choosing to be popular or to sing. In real life these people do not exist. In real life the jock will not be in a show choir, and the gay boy will be beaten up. Over and above this, the so called actors can't act, and very few of them can sing. The teacher constantly thinks he is the next Justin Timberlake and the big goofy main male actor can't act, dance, sing and even struggles to walk on camera. The one and only good thing about Glee is that it helps teenage kids deal with issues at school. If only they did not burst into song every 5 minutes, I would have been able to enjoy some more of it.

Painting day

The little guy helped us paint the kitchen.

Rest and relaxation

The youngest dog after a whole day of running around in the forrest for a friends birthday party. Fun was had by all and Butch, the birthday boy, got spoiled again.

The new kitchen

These will be the colours in our new kitchen. The kitchen doors will be the green, and the walls the blue. The yellow was a test but we don't like it. Its not yet in as we are still in the building process.

Father Bruce

Our favourite priest has stepped down and is going to leave the cathedral. Father Bruce Jenneker was one of the first people in the cathedral who spoke to us and got us involved in serving as a couple in the church. He has been the Canon Presentor at church so he was the one who wrote the liturgy for the services. His last wish today as he was saying goodbye was that his writing of liturgy and sings got someone inspired enough to worship the lord. Well it was exactly the way the cathedral worshiped and the songs they sang and the way the service was laid out, that got me interested in joining the cathedral, so I guess his plan worked. We will miss him very dearly.

Traffic

One of the big reasons I will never move back. This is a normal road in the suburbs and there is traffic everywhere even on the bridge.

The pending storm

These black clouds turned out to be spitting rain in the afternoon. Not exactly the perfect storm it looks like. I saw a wonderful quote yesterday... Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning to dance in the rain...

An Emu

Seen in the urban suburb of Kempton Park. This is like Bellville in Cape Town, The Bluff in Durban or middel America. However you would ot expect an Emu here as it is an urban suburb. The weird things people do


Another dreadful week

I am up in Mpumalanga again this week, seeing my properties and have come all the way to the border, Komatipoort. Once again I have to watch the sun set in the bushveld animal spotting. Oh my life...